Report at a Glance

The 2014 Ebola epidemic in western Africa was the longest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, resulting in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths. In the midst of the rapidly spreading, highly dangerous contagious disease—with no Ebola-specific vaccines or therapeutics available to help curb the epidemic—the international community implemented clinical trials on investigational agents, not yet studied in humans for safety or efficacy. Within that context, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, supported the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to analyze the clinical trials that were conducted during the epidemic and consider the many scientific, ethical and practical issues related to the conduct of research in similar contexts. The resulting report, Integrating Clinical Research into Epidemic Response: The Ebola Experience, assesses the value of the trials and makes recommendations about how the conduct of trials could be improved in the context of a future international emerging or re-emerging infectious disease event.